Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a 2016 American action adventure film based on the Mirage Studios characters of the same name. It is the sixth film in the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' film series and a sequel to the 2014 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The film was directed by Dave Green, written by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, and stars Megan Fox, Stephen Amell, Will Arnett, Brian Tee, Tyler Perry, Brittany Ishibashi and Laura Linney, and featuring the voices of Pete Ploszek, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Tony Shalhoub, Gary Anthony Williams, Stephen "Sheamus" Farrelly and Brad Garrett. Principal photography on the film began on April 27, 2015, in New York City. It was released on June 3, 2016, in 3D, RealD 3D, 4DX and in IMAX 3D. It received mixed reviews from critics, being considered by many an improvement over its predecessor, but was not as successful, grossing $245 million against a $135 million budget. Plot Two years after their battle with Shredder and Eric Sacks, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo, still live beneath the sewers of New York City, having allowed Vern Fenwick to take the credit for Shredder's defeat. At Grand Central Station, April O'Neil discovers and informs the turtles that scientist Baxter Stockman is working for Shredder and plans to bust him out of prison. As Shredder is transferred between prisons alongside criminals Bebop and Rocksteady by corrections officer Casey Jones, the Foot Clan attack the convoy transporting them. Despite the turtles' interference, Shredder escapes when Stockman uses a teleportation device. Shredder is hijacked mid-teleport, winds up in another dimension, and meets the alien warlord Krang, who reveals his plans to invade Earth. He gives Shredder a purple mutagenic compound in exchange for his promise to find three components of a machine that Krang sent to Earth long ago which will open a portal to his dimension when united, knowing that Shredder and Stockman have the first piece. Casey tells NYPD chief Rebecca Vincent what happened to Shredder but is met with disbelief, and decides to go out on his own. Shredder returns to NY, recruits Bebop and Rocksteady, who also escaped, and has Stockman use Krang's mutagen to transform them into powerful animal mutants—a humanoid warthog and rhinoceros. April witnesses their transformation and is able to steal the remaining mutagen vial. Pursued by the Foot, she is rescued by Casey, who uses hockey gear, but the vial is taken into police custody. April then introduces Casey to the turtles, and Raphael and Michelangelo make fun of and pull pranks on him. In the lair, Donatello deduces that the mutagen could be used to turn the turtles into humans, enabling them to live normal lives above ground, but Leonardo refuses and insists on keeping it a secret from the others. However, Michelangelo overhears their conversation and tells Raphael, which enrages Raphael and leads to a fierce argument between the brothers. Leonardo benches Raphael and takes Michelangelo off the mission. In the Natural History Museum, Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady find the second piece and steal it before Leonardo and Donatello arrive. Still furious, Raphael recruits Michelangelo, April, Casey, and Vern to break into the NYPD headquarters and retrieve the mutagen. Vern distracts the police while April and Casey retrieve the mutagen, but the Foot arrive ahead of them. In the ensuing battle, the turtles' existence is revealed to the police, who react with fear and hatred, and April and Casey are arrested while helping the brothers escape with the mutagen. Vincent also sees on TCRI's cameras that April stole the mutagen, but Stockman had edited the tape so only April is seen. The turtles track Bebop and Rocksteady as they recover the final piece of the device in the rainforests of Manaus, Brazil, and board Rocksteady and Bebop's jet in midair. In the resulting battle, the jet is critically damaged after Rocksteady fires a tank-mounted machine gun in the cargo hold, and crashes into a river. As the Turtles fight Bebop in the river for control of the piece, Rocksteady emerges in the tank and helps Bebop escape with the piece. The turtles return to NY as Shredder and Stockman complete the device and open a portal to Krang's dimension through which his modular war machine, the Technodrome, begins to emerge. Shredder betrays Stockman and his men take him to their headquarters in Tokyo. When entering the Technodrome, Krang likewise betrays Shredder, freezing him and locking him with his collection of other defeated foes. Seeing no way to reach the Technodrome as the police pursue them, the turtles debate over taking the mutagen to become human and fight openly. While Leonardo agrees, Raphael shatters the vial, realizing they must accept who they are. Upon April's request, Vern recovers the security footage from a hidden TCRI camera that proves Stockman and Shredder's collaboration and secures April and Casey's release. April arranges a meeting between the turtles and Vincent, and convinces her that they are not enemies and were the ones who defeated Shredder in the first place. With the help of the police, the turtles are able to jump from the Chrysler Building and confront Krang aboard the still-assembling Technodrome. Although Krang is able to overpower all four turtles easily, they defeat him when Donatello short circuits Krang's robotics body. April, Casey and Vern raid the Foot Clan facility, defeat Bebop, Rocksteady and Shredder's lieutenant Karai and take control of the device. The turtles are able to hurl the ship's beacon back through the portal, taking Krang and the rest of the Technodrome with it, as April, Casey, and Vern shut the portal down. As he disappears, Krang vows to return stronger for revenge. A week later, Bebop and Rocksteady are back in custody, while Stockman remains at large. At night, the turtles are honored by Vincent and the NYPD along with April, Casey, and Vern, and given golden keys to the city. Vincent offers to introduce the turtles to the public, allowing them to lead normal lives, but the turtles opt to keep their existence a secret while still helping as they always have. On top of the Statue of Liberty, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles celebrate their victory over the vanquished Krang. Cast Voice actors and motion-capture * Pete Ploszek as Leonardo: The leader of the turtles who wields a pair of Katanas in battle * Alan Ritchson as Raphael: The hot-headed brother who wields a pair of Sais in battle. * Noel Fisher as Michelangelo: The light-hearted brother known for his pranks and jokes and who wields a pair of nunchucks in battle. * Jeremy Howard as Donatello: The intelligent brother known for his scientific and technological expertise who builds equipment and machinery for the turtles and wields a bo-staff. * Tony Shalhoub (voice) and Peter D. Badalamenti (motion capture) as Splinter: The mentor and father-figure of the turtles. * Gary Anthony Williams as Bebop: A criminal partner of Rocksteady who was genetically mutated into an anthropomorphic warthog. * Sheamus as Rocksteady: A criminal partner of Bebop who was genetically mutated into an anthropomorphic rhinoceros. * Brad Garrett as Krang: A megalomaniacal ruthless extraterrestrial life-form equipped with a robotic prototype body, who seeks to destroy Earth and enslave the universe. Live action * Megan Fox as April O'Neil: A reporter for Channel 6 who had befriended the turtles in the previous film, who now helps them fight the released Shredder and his allies. * Stephen Amell as Casey Jones: A corrections officer turned vigilante who wears a hockey-mask and wields a hockey stick as a weapon. He eventually meets and befriends the turtles like April. * Will Arnett as Vern Fenwick: April's cameraman and friend who is revealed to have taken credit for the turtles actions in saving New York City. He again assists the turtles in stopping Shredder once again. * Brian Tee as Oroku Saki / Shredder: The leader of the Foot Clan who now seeks revenge on the turtles and allies with Krang. * Tyler Perry as Dr. Baxter Stockman: A mad scientist who allies with Shredder in the latter's aims to take over New York City. * Laura Linney as Police Chief Rebecca Vincent: the chief of NYPD who initially detests but later allies with the turtles in saving New York City. * Brittany Ishibashi as Karai: Shredder's second in-command . Dean Winters appears as a bartender. Supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio has a cameo appearance. NBA players Carmelo Anthony, DeAndre Jordan, Lou Amundson, J. J. Redick, Austin Rivers, Matt Barnes, and Spencer Hawes also made cameos in the film. Series co-creator Kevin Eastman makes a cameo appearance as a pizza delivery man named after himself in the film's opening. Jill Martin also made a cameo appearance in the basketball scene in the film. Judith Hoag, who previously played April O'Neil in the original 1990 film, plays a cameo as Rita, April's boss, in a deleted scene. Jane Wu plays Jade, a police officer. Production Development After the 2014 film exceeded box office expectations, Paramount and Nickelodeon officially announced a sequel was greenlit, and set to be released in theatres on June 3, 2016, with plans to incorporate the characters Casey Jones and Bebop and Rocksteady. Jonathan Liebesman and Bradley Fuller were also interested in doing a storyline that involved Dimension X and Krang. In December 2014, it was revealed Paramount was in early negotiations with Earth to Echo director Dave Green to helm the sequel, also revealing Jonathan Liebesman was no longer a part of the project. Known briefly as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Half Shell, Paramount revealed in December 2015 that the title had officially been changed to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. Casting Megan Fox and Will Arnett were confirmed to be returning as April O'Neil and Vern Fenwick respectively; also confirmed were the Shredder's return, and Bebop and Rocksteady debut in the movie. In an interview, William Fichtner stated that he would be returning as Eric Sacks, but for unknown reasons, he ultimately did not appear in the final film. However, he could return in the third installment, considering he (along with the turtle actors, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Alan Ritchson and Pete Ploszek) signed on for three TMNT films. Production was confirmed to start in April 2015, along with the casting of Alessandra Ambrosio, and several members of the Los Angeles Clippers. On March 31, Stephen Amell was cast as Casey Jones, after test reading alongside several different actors. Amell acknowledged the character bore similarities to his Oliver Queen from Arrow. He stated the characters are "fundamentally different" from one another, but that Casey did resemble Oliver from older versions. On April 23, Tyler Perry was cast as scientist Baxter Stockman, replacing K. Todd Freeman, who played the role in the 2014 film. On April 27, Brian Tee joined the cast as the Shredder, replacing Tohoru Masamune from the first film. On April 30, Laura Linney was cast in an unspecified role. On May 14, Gary Anthony Williams was cast as Bebop, while on May 28, WWE wrestler Stephen "Sheamus" Farrelly was confirmed to play Rocksteady. On May 27, Minae Noji was replaced with Brittany Ishibashi in the role of Karai. In August 2015, CM Punk revealed that he lost the role of Rocksteady to Sheamus. In March 2016, it was announced that Fred Armisen would voice Krang in the film. However, in May 2016, shortly before the film's release, it was revealed that Brad Garrett would voice Krang instead due to Armisen having schedule conflicts. In April 2016, while promoting Elvis & Nixon, Johnny Knoxville revealed that he was not asked to return for the sequel as the voice of Leonardo. Music On April 2, 2016, Steve Jablonsky revealed that he would compose the music score, replacing Brian Tyler from the first film. Mexican teen boy band CD9 performed an updated version of the original show's theme song for the film. The film score soundtrack was released on June 3, 2016, on digital platforms but excluded compact discs. Filming Filming began in April in New York City and Buffalo, spending about $70 million in the state. Filming began on April 27, 2015, when the film crew was spotted filming in Midtown Manhattan and moved out to Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. Filming in Buffalo began on May 4, 2015, along the Kensington Expressway and ended May 17, 2015. Filming wrapped up in August 2015. Additional filming occurred in New York City on January 30, and ended on February 1. Farelly and Williams recorded additional dialogue for the film in February 2016. Release The film premiered in New York City on May 22, 2016, and was released in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2016, and the United States on June 3, 2016. Marketing Concept art of Bebop and Rocksteady was shown at Paramount Pictures’ CinemaCon panel on April 22, 2015. A 14-second teaser of the trailer was released by Stephen Amell on December 9, 2015. The full trailer debuted the following day. On January 5, 2016, a toy catalog for the film was leaked online. The toys debuted at the 2016 Toy Fair in February. A 30-second TV spot premiered at the 2016 Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016. A 7-second sneak preview of the TV spot was released three days prior. On February 12, 2016, a second TV spot was released. On February 17, 2016, Paramount released four character posters featuring the four turtles. On February 25, 2016, Megan Fox and Stephen Amell announced a sweepstakes for the film. On March 2, 2016, Paramount released four more ninja turtle posters. Will Arnett debuted the first official clip from the film at the 2016 Kids' Choice Awards, on March 12, 2016. That same evening, the awards show and Brian Tee gave fans the first look at Shredder in full armor. On March 24, 2016, it was announced that the toys from the film will be released in stores in April. The following day, Paramount released two more Bebop and Rocksteady posters and a new trailer from the film. New footage of the film was also shown during that week at WonderCon. On April 1, 2016, another Bebop and Rocksteady poster was released. On April 8, 2016, another teaser trailer was released. Another trailer with brand new footage debuted on April 11, 2016, along with a new poster. Two new TV spots were released on April 18, 2016. The next day, another TV spot was released. Two days later, another TV spot debuted. On May 3, 2016, another trailer debuted. From May 12–16, 2016, six new TV spots debuted. On May 19, 2016, Paramount debuted two additional TV spots. The final full trailer for the film was released the following day. Paramount released a trailer, which focused primarily on Bebop and Rocksteady, on May 26, 2016, which also aired during the May 30th episode of WWE Raw since Sheamus was in the film as Rocksteady. Four new TV spots then debuted from May 28–30, 2016. Home media Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows was released on Digital HD on September 6, 2016, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD on September 20, 2016. The film debuted in first place on the overall home video sales chart and in second place on the Blu-ray sales chart for the week ending on September 25, 2016. Reception Box office Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows grossed $82.1 million in the United States and Canada and $163.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $245.6 million, against its production budget of $135 million. It made around 50% less than its predecessor, which had grossed $493 million. In the U.S. and Canada, the film was projected to gross around $30–40 million from 4,071 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $49 million. It received a one-week special run across 331 IMAX and IMAX 3D theaters from June 2 up to June 9. The film made $2 million from Thursday night previews which began at 5 p.m., compared to the first film's $4.6 million. On its opening day it earned $12.5 million (including previews), with $4.4 million (36%) coming from 3D showings. In its opening weekend, it grossed $35.3 million, finishing first at the box office. However, its opening was down 45% from the first film's $65.6 million debut. Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore said that while the studio was hoping for a stronger opening, he believed that the film could make up some ground in the coming weeks since most films aimed at younger audiences play at better multiples. Outside North America, the film was released in about 30 overseas IMAX markets, beginning Wednesday, June 1, with additional markets throughout the summer, including China on July 2. It opened across 40 markets the same weekend as its U.S. release, including big markets like the United Kingdom, Mexico and Russia, which is about 39% of its total international marketplace, and was projected to make around $36 million. It ended up grossing $33 million, which is down 11% when compared to the first film's same suite of markets, and had No. 1 debuts in 21 markets out of the 40. The top openings were in China ($26.1 million), the UK ($5.1 million), Russia ($4.8 million) and Mexico ($4.5 million). In the United Kingdom, it came in second place – behind Warcraft – with a £3.49 million ($5 million) seven-day opening from 513 theaters. In China the film was granted a rare July release date (along with The Legend of Tarzan, where it grossed an estimated $26.1 million from 6,600 screens in two days. It had a limited opening on Friday, July 1 and opened wide the following day. It faced competition from local film Bounty Hunters which had the advantage of opening wide right from Friday. Yet, Out of the Shadows emerged victorious at the end of the weekend ahead of the latter's $18 million opening. As a result, Out of the Shadows became the ninth consecutive Hollywood import film to debut atop the chart beginning from May 6, 2016. In comparable to Saturday releases, the figure is almost double the launch of Big Hero 6; 41% above the first film; and 18% higher than The Angry Birds Movie. It fell precipitously in its second weekend by 74%, earning $6.6 million and thereby slipped in to fourth place. It opened in key markets such as Germany and Austria on August 11 as well as Japan on August 26, 2016. Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 38% based on 146 reviews, with a rating average of 4.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a slight improvement over its predecessor, but still lacks the wit or anarchic energy of the comics that birthed the franchise." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 40 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale, an improvement over the first film's "B". Glenn Kenny of The New York Times gave the film a positive review writing, "This movie is, it happens, easier to sit through than the 2014 film", while also adding that "The 3-D action, overseen by the director Dave Green, is not wholly incoherent. The production values (showcasing new mutants and many gear-heavy extra-dimensional machines undreamed of in any actual engineering philosophy) are ultrashiny. And there are even a couple of amusing, albeit unmemorable, sight gags and one-liners." Edward Douglas of New York Daily News gave the film three out of five stars, saying, "As with the best popcorn flicks, Out of the Shadows offers plenty of mindless entertainment and mind-numbing silliness that somehow works well enough to leave even the Ninja Turtles' biggest detractors shell-shocked." Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post praised the film's action sequences and story while overall writing that, "Out of the Shadows is, at least, deliciously silly, even if it is also decidedly forgettable. Like a well-plated but nutrition-free meal, it registers on the senses while being bad for you." Peter Hartlaub of San Francisco Chronicle gave the film a negative review, writing, "Your 11-year-old is going to love this film. Then he'll grow up and wonder what he was thinking." Sara Stewart of The New York Post gave the film two out of four stars and wrote, "despite the title, the wisecracking turtles named for Renaissance painters are never allowed to shine... It’s a bummer, dude." Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press gave the film one star out of four and said, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a Saturday morning cartoon on Michael Bay steroids. For the under 12 set, that's fine. For the rest of us? It's something to actively avoid." Accolades Possible sequel On August 16, 2014, Noel Fisher revealed in an interview that he and the other turtle actors have signed on for three more films. Megan Fox has also signed on for three films. On May 20, 2016, Tyler Perry said that if a third film is to be made, his character, Baxter Stockman, would probably mutate into his fly form during the movie. Pete Ploszek has also expressed his interests in reprising his role in a third film as Leonardo. On October 29, 2016, producer Andrew Form indicated that no plans were currently underway for a third film. 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